BMW invests in intelligent parking systems

A new partnership will allow BMW drivers to find, reserve and pay for parking spaces before they set off on their journey. BMW is the latest company to signal that it is directing its resources in order to address that one area of driving that, despite a century of technological advances, just isn’t getting any easier — finding a parking space.

The company Thursday announced a partnership with NOW! Innovations, a company that provides mobile payment and billing solutions across a number of countries and that has developed a flexible and easy-to-use billing and payment platform for parking services.

As part of its BMW i Mobility Services arm, the German carmaker has already developed and implemented a service called ParkNow which enables users to find, reserve and even pay for a parking space in advance via either the desktop browser or an iPhone/Android app. The service also ties in with a device’s or the car’s navigation system to give the driver clear directions to the space in question. Currently designed for off-street parking garages, the system is up and running in San Francisco.

The new partnership will allow BMW to add on-street parking spaces to its existing service and to start to roll out the services beyond the US.

In January, INRIX unveiled what it clamed to be the world’s first parking navigation service. Offering users access to real-time information about a total 60,000 available spaces in the US and 36 European countries, INRIX Parking helps drivers identify and get directions to the parking space closest to their destination and also provides information regarding fees and other pricing information. The system made its debut in Kenwood’s 2013 range of in-car DVD entertainment receivers, which were launched at this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show. Copyright